Contract vs Disclaimer vs Policy vs Terms and Conditions: How they work together to protect your business
READ THIS, HEAD TO THE GROCERY STORE, AND YOU’LL NEVER FORGET THE DIFFERENCES AGAIN
If you’ve been around for a minute, you’ve heard me talk about what a disclaimer really is. It’s like a “CAUTION: WET FLOOR” sign for your business.
It’s common sense. We can see that the floor is wet.
But without the sign, you could be opening yourself up to lawsuits. Right?
That’s kind of how small business ownership feels. A freshly-mopped floor. One wrong step, and someone’s in your inbox asking for a refund, a deliverable, or a payment plan.
So what about contracts, policies, and terms and conditions? How are they different from disclaimers?
They’re all part of a layered system. And that’s what I’m talking about in this quick post.
Let’s take a walk.
I’m Maria Spear Ollis, aka The Lunar Lawyer, and I’m going to shine some light on how contracts, disclaimers, policies, and terms and conditions all work together to protect you.
First, the wet floor sign (disclaimers)
I’ve already said that a disclaimer is like a wet floor sign. It puts people on notice of risks so they can’t come back and say “HEY, you never told me that this could happen!”
CAUTION: WET FLOOR
NOTE: RESULTS NOT GUARANTEED
THE INFORMATION IN THIS BLOG POST IS NOT MEDICAL ADVICE.
THE LINKS IN THIS EMAIL ARE AFFILIATE LINKS.
These are all disclaimers. They’re warnings. And they’re fairly one-way: you establish and set out the disclaimer somewhere where it’s easy to see. (Cough, neon yellow sign in the grocery store, cough)
These can show up in the footer of your website (grab a free one, customized to your business, here), in marketing emails, or on slides in a workshop.
Second, the aisle we’re walking down together (Contracts)
Contracts, on the other hand, are not one-way. They’re a path (or aisle, to stick with the grocery store metaphor) that you walk down with someone.
A contract legally binds both parties to certain expectations, policies, and terms.
A contract says “here’s what we’re both agreeing to… ok?” It’s a mutual agreement and make sure everyone is on the same page. (Or path.)
It’s obvious where contracts show up in your business. Maybe you’re bringing on one-on-one clients or creating a group program. Or maybe you’re bringing on a virtual assistant.
Third, the sign on the door (policies)
Ok we’re jumping around the grocery store a little bit here, but policies are like the NO SHOES, NO SHIRT, NO SERVICE sign on the sliding glass door.
It’s not a full-on agreement with detailed terms and clauses, but it does set expectations and establish ground rules.
In your business, policies might show up inside of a membership (as grounds for getting kicked out), your rescheduling policy if you’re booking sessions or one-on-one calls as part of your services, your refund policy if you’re selling digital products on your website, or your good old fashioned privacy policy.
Finally, the rules for the building (terms and conditions)
Okay I’ll be honest. Terms and Conditions and Policies are very similar; if not the same.
Terms and Conditions are like the bouncer at the door or the rules inside the coffee shop that say “Hey, if you do these things, you’re out.” (Or you can’t use this product or website anymore. That kind of thing.)
They’ll usually show up in your business as something that users click to agree to when booking a session, buying something on your website, or grabbing a ticket to your event.
Bringing it all together
Your legal safety net (or shopping cart?) isn’t one thing: it’s all of these things working together.
When your disclaimers, policies, contracts, and terms and conditions are all set up to work together, your business has boundaries and protection that should make your nervous system feel like a huge exhale.